<p>S is 14 and asked me a few months ago if he could drive the car. I told him no, of course not, he doesn’t have a permit yet. He said that kids in his class are allowed to drive around without a license, and their parents know about it. I thought it was something rare, until a friend told me yesterday that her daughter (in S’s class) is asking the same of her because HER friends are also allowed by their parents. We don’t live in a rural area. This is dangerous. Is this common? Are these parents on quaaludes or WHAT?</p>
<p>dke–you need to move, seriously! It sometimes sounds like you are the only person with sense in your community (the one with the birthday shooting parties, right?)</p>
<p>As for your question, no, I don’t know anyone who let their kids drive pre-license. i’m sure Florida, as other states, has pretty stiff penalties for that.</p>
<p>These people are nuts. What if the kid hits something? The insurance company would have kittens.</p>
<p>Garland’s right, you gotta get outta there! ASAP.
Driving w/o a license, NO NO NO. NO.
And at 14? NO.
Good time to use the old jumping off a bridge saying.</p>
<p>What age can they get their permits there? 16?</p>
<p>People do alot of things… until they get caught. Back in the day if you were in an accident underage… no license until age 21. Which to a 14 year old, should be near the end of time. </p>
<p>As far as liability to the parents it’s going to depend on the fine print of their insurance policy… in some cases the carrier has no responsibility to cover anything. Insurance is there to compensate for risk, not stupidity.</p>
<p>Nuts, but several years ago my son told me the same thing. Insane, and no my kiddo could not do that. He also could not take 5 hour trips with 17 year olds to snow country in the middle of winter (New England). He also did not get his own car on his 17th birthday, and he did not have a moped or a motorcycle, but those are other issues. I guess he was pretty deprived :(</p>
<p>Oh, and he also was not allowed on a hs spring break trip to who knows where (I don’t recall), that I he would have liked me to spring for as a graduation present (unchaperoned). This was something that some kids put together and had nothing to do with the school.</p>
<p>So in both cases, this is information coming to parents from the kids reporting what other kids say they are allowed to do…uh huh. I wouldn’t begin to believe it until another parent tells me they personally know someone who is allowing their kid to drive a car without a permit or license (and obviously not on the insurance.) Sounds bogus. To me it sounds like, maybe, one rare instance is getting retold many times, urban legend style. Or maybe it’s collective wishful thinking on the part of the kids: We can all drive at 14! Yea! </p>
<p>Among the parents I know, no one is crazy enough to let a kid drive without a legal permit, even with the parent with them in the car, let alone drive without a license with no adult in the car. No how, no way.</p>
<p>THe only place I let my D drive without a permit- was on the ocean beach- a few years ago. ( she will be 17 tomorrow)
She also asked to get her permit and as I found that you need a written test before you can get one if you are not enrolled in drivers ed, I got her the booklet to study.
I do know parents who do dumb things ( no offense dads- but dads can have less stop and think first activity), but I dont’ think that is common- I wonder if it was one case, one time, that has blown out of proportion</p>
<p>If those kids are driving to school, well its a bit late now, but the school should be told that they have unlicenced drivers around the school, and usually HS’s have some sort of policy (or should) about who can drive to school, park there etc</p>
<p>If they are driving to school without a permit or license, then perhaps the school needs to buckle down on this if there is some sort of policy, or they need to create this policy for the fall term</p>
<p>It is important enough to make a stink</p>
<p>It may not fix the entire problem, but if the school takes some sort of action, maybe parents will get a wakeup call, and if not, at least it might be safer around schools</p>
<p>No, No, No. What part of no do these kids not understand. And maybe there is only one friend with dumb parents letting this happen, but all the other kids are telling their parents that everyone else is allowed to.</p>
<p>In our community, there was a horrible accident a few years ago. A 14-15 yo unlicensed driver drove around in the middle of the night and picked up 12-16 yo friends. He crashed the car into a tree, and many died. The police had to call parents in the middle of the night to tell them their child had died…“No, that can’t be, mine is asleep in the next room…” The sorrow, the loss, then the lawsuits. </p>
<p>I have never called to report stupid behavior, but if I knew that a 14-15 yo unlicensed driver was actually on the road in my community, I would be tempted to call the authorities at the time and report the activity. It puts so many others in danger.</p>
<p>If they are driving to school the school needs to be informed. SOme things you just don’t let slide by.</p>
<p>I would report it…absolutely…</p>
<p>I woul also contact the local police station to warn them, etc</p>
<p>It’s common in some rural areas near us, but not in town. Stories about such things do get exaggerated a tad. Once when ds was about a year away from getting his learner’s permit, dh allowed him to drive his new car on some recently paved roads in our (then) neighborhood. There were half a dozen streets where construction had not yet begun and no one was around on a Sunday. When ds went off to school, he met a number of boys who’d grown up in very rural areas where they’d driven tractors, farm trucks, etc. since they were big enough to reach the pedals/controls. I heard from dd that the story about her brother’s driving experience was somewhat embellished, but fortunately she didn’t call him on it. But driving in traffic? No way.</p>
<p>Absolutely not normal. </p>
<p>If kids in your area get permits at 15, it could be parents letting their children drive in the driveway or slow roads in the neighborhood. I still don’t think it’s a good idea, but I highly doubt these 14 year olds are driving on major streets.</p>
<p>Hahaha NO WAY! Even when driving is legal it’s not always wise. My S is nearly 17 and has a permit but after taking him out for a practice drive in an empty parking lot it’s pretty clear he won’t be driving any time soon. He is a big kid, strong and somewhat clumsy because he isn’t body conscious. His big foot (in the giant boots he wears) could hardly keep from hitting the brake and gas at the same time! LOL! Some kids pick it up fast (like my D did at 15 1/2) and others don’t. We will keep practicing over summer but he might not be licensed until he is 18. He isn’t anxious to drive either so the only problem with this is I will have to keep chauffeuring him to school/work/activities but it’s a small price to pay for everyones well being.</p>
<p>My son has asked me if he could do pretty much every stupid thing imaginable. But even he never asked that one. Not a chance!</p>
<p>When S was too young to legally drive, he asked me the same thing that the OP’s S did, and he told me that his friends’ parents let them drive. I simply explained that in our family, we follow the law. That ended the discussion.</p>
<p>I have been shocked to find out that people whom I preveiously had considered to have good sense think it’s OK to let unlicensed kids drive. One woman – a lawyer – told me how she had told the 9-year-old S of a friend that she’d take him to a parking lot and let him drive her car. I was too shocked to say anythnig, but my opinion of the woman really dropped. I will never understand how a presumably intelligent adult can think that a 2-ton vehicle is some kind of toy.</p>
<p>I don’t know where my friend’s daughter’s friends were driving, but the kids S knows were going to the strip mall near our house. True story. I do feel like Alice in Wonderland sometimes here and yes, Garland, this is where the shooting party was! Driving age (permit given) is 15 which I think is WAY too young, anyway. I am considering reporting it if it happens again.</p>
<p>Considering? I’d report it in a heartbeat and not give a rat’s you-know-what what other people think. I only have to think about how horrible I’d feel if an accident occurred that I could have prevented if only I’d opened my mouth.</p>
<p>^, Yup, totally agree with that!</p>
<p>I’m with the hardliners on this one. We some drove at that age–on our private property well away from the public. I never would have thought about taking the car out on the public road. It would have been confiscated.</p>